Rooms To Go opening store in McAllen, Texas

Rooms To Go opening store in McAllen, Texas

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, November 12, 2009

Location will include Rooms To Go Kids showroom

MCALLEN, Texas — Rooms To Go will open a 35,000-square-foot main store and attached Rooms To Go Kids showroom here Nov. 21.

The main store at 1400 E. Expressway 83 near La Plaza Mall will feature the Top 100 retailer's room packages of living room, dining room and bedroom furniture. The "Kids and Teens" lineup at the RTG Kids showroom next door will feature various Disney collections - including Hannah Montana, Princesses, Pirates of the Caribbean and High School Musical - as well as an NFL collection.

The Seffner, Fla.-based company noted in a press release that at least 90% of the products shown at the new location will be available for quick delivery, including its popular Cindy Crawford Home Collection.

RTG CEO Jeff Seaman said the more than 130-store company has been looking for a site here for several years and is "thrilled to be opening our first store in McAllen."

"We're committed to providing unparalleled service, selection, value and a terrific shopping experience," he added.

The retailer said it will make an opening day donation to the McAllen Food Bank.

McAllen awards Bicentennial extension contract

McAllen awards Bicentennial extension contract
November 11, 2009 10:40 PM
Nick Pipitone
The Monitor

McALLEN — City commissioners on Monday awarded the contract for the long-awaited extension of Bicentennial Boulevard to an Edinburg company.

Construction could begin as early as January.

The awarding of the nearly $5.3 million contract to IOC Co. LLC brings the city closer to beginning the 2.2-mile extension of Bicentennial from Nolana to Trenton Road.

Plans for the extension have been 15 years in the making and have faced several obstacles along the way.

City officials say the addition of another north-south corridor in North McAllen will alleviate traffic congestion in the city, especially on 10th and 23rd streets.

“The No. 1 problem cited in our city among constituents in any district is traffic,” City Commissioner Marcus Barrera said. “It will lighten the load for all roads.”

More than a decade ago, city officials originally envisioned extending Bicentennial all the way to University Drive in Edinburg, but they faced opposition from residents there who fought the prospect of a heavily trafficked road running across their property.

The city eventually settled on a four-lane roadway extending to Trenton with an adjacent hike-and-bike trail.

“It’ll probably be very similar to how Second Street is,” Barrera said, referring to the combination of a north-south thoroughfare paralleled by a greenway. “(It will be) a more scenic way when trying to get to work or get the kids to school or get to the airport. It’ll be a boon for everybody.”

The major obstacle in the way of the plan was the crossing of two railroad tracks just north of Nolana and near Bill Schupp Park. The rail lines are owned by Rio Valley Switching Co. and the city had to close two crossings at Highland and Beech avenues earlier this year to offset the planned crossings farther north and continue with the project.

Another obstacle was the irrigation canal and drainage ditch running along Bicentennial. The city worked out an agreement with the irrigation district to convert the open canal into an underground canal on the east side of the extension, City Engineer Yvette Barrera said. The drainage ditch will remain open but will be moved slightly to the east, following the entire length of the extension.

The city also had to negotiate with property owners along the planned path of the extension to buy up the necessary land, a process it completed earlier this year, Yvette Barrera said.

The contractor, IOC, must turn in all construction plans and documents and then set up a pre-construction conference with the city, which Yvette Barrera estimates will take about three weeks. After the conference, the company would have 10 days to start construction.

Along with building the road, the company will lay down the concrete hike-and-bike trail. The landscaping aspect of the greenway will be handled by another company. The city plans to submit a grant application to the state for that part of the project, City Commissioner Marcus Barrera said.

The timing of the contract for the road was “serendipitous” for the city because of how competitive construction bidding is at the moment, he said. That’s in contrast to a few years ago when cost estimates were rising because development was rampant.

“We were able to take advantage of the situation and save the taxpayers millions” of dollars, the city commissioner said.

“Reynosa / McAllen, Union para el desarrollo fronterizo” – Strategic Alliance for Border Economic Development

“Reynosa / McAllen, Union para el desarrollo fronterizo” – Strategic Alliance for Border Economic Development
(Free-Press-Release.com)
By: Cesar Sanchez
American Industries Group
November 10, 2009 --

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

United States of America. October 26th, 2009 – On October 20th, the economic promotion event "Reynosa / McAllen – Strategic Alliance for Border Economic Development" took place at the Camino Real Valle Oriente Hotel in Monterrey, NL with the special attendance of Consulates represented in the city of Monterrey, as well as Industrial companies and Chambers of Industry. The main objective of the event was to show the competitive advantages, business and investment opportunities in the Region of Reynosa / McAllen.

The event counted with the special participation of the City Mayor of McAllen, Mr. Ricardo Cortez, and his guests, Mr. David Guerra and Mr. Manuel Muniz, both representing the IBC bank, Mr. George Ramon, manager of the International Bridge Hidalgo-McAllen, and Mr. Joseph Olmeda, general manager of BSN Medical.

Diplomatic presence from consuls of countries such as Canada, Australia, Spain, USA, France, Honduras, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom, among others, concurred with the benefits of establishing international operations in the Reynosa / McAllen region. The Industrial Chambers who attended this event were: Consejo Mexicano de Comercio Exterior, Sociedad Mexicana de Aguas, Customs Brokers Association, Colter Carswell & Associates, among others, and some companies from Monterrey interested in investing in the Mexico-US border region.

This event was organized and sponsored by the “Secretaria de Desarrollo Economico de Reynosa, Tamaulipas” (SEDEEM), the Economic Development Corporation of McAllen, Texas (MEDC), and also some Industrial developers established in Reynosa such as American Industries, GGP, “Grupo Sara” and “Grupo Stiva”. The event was a complete success and at the end some representants of European countries who attended the event announced to Armando Zertuche (Secretary of the "Secretaria de Desarrollo Economico y del Empleo de Reynosa"), their interest of visiting the Region of Reynosa / McAllen.

About American Industries Group:
American Industries Group is Mexico’s leading manufacturing facilitator with over 30 years of successfully landing manufacturing projects in Mexico from over 100 global corporations. For more information visit our company’s website: www.AmericanIndustriesGroup.com or contact us at + 52 (899) 951-8300

Press Contact:
Cesar Sanchez
American Industries Group
12120 Esther Lama Dr. S-100. El Paso
Texas 79936
Ph ( 915 )-860-0401
business.opportunities@reynosa-mcallendevelopment.com

McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX Ranked 4th in the Best-Performing Cities 2009: Where America's Jobs Are Created and Sustained

Best-Performing Cities 2009: Where America's Jobs Are Created and Sustained
Milken Institute Publications
Ross DeVol, Armen Bedroussian, Kevin Klowden, and Candice Flor Hynek
November 11, 2009

Leaders in the 2009 index, which ranks U.S. metros based on their ability to create and sustain jobs, are all metros that succeeded in avoiding the worst of economic declines driven by falling housing markets and job losses in manufacturing and global trade.


The 2009 top 10 performers (with 2008 rankings) of the 200 largest metros:

1. Austin-Round Rock, TX (4)

2. Killeen-Temple-Fort Hood, TX (13)

3. Salt Lake City, UT (3)

4. McAllen-Edinburg-Mission, TX (7)

5. Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, TX (16)

6. Durham, NC (21)

7. Olympia, WA (9)

8. Huntsville, AL (5)

9. Lafayette, LA (14)

10. Raleigh-Cary, NC (2)

Regional economic factors also strongly influenced the rankings this year, with the oil and gas sector, technology and alternative energy providing stability among metros in Texas, North Carolina, Washington and Louisiana, which also benefited from low dependence on housing/construction. Austin in particular has been helped by its strong tech industry. It is the first metro to ever be ranked number one twice on the index, the last time being in 2000.

Another factor helping Texas metros move up in the rankings is that state’s favorable business climate and its ability to attract jobs and corporations away from higher-cost states.

The Best Performing Cities Index includes both long-term (five years) and short-term (one year) measurements of employment and salary growth. There are also four measurements of technology output growth, which are included because of technology's crucial role in creating good jobs and driving regional economies.

Data for all 324 metros is available on our 2009 Best-Performing Cities interactive web site.

School bond projects end on time and within budget for McAllen ISD

School bond projects end on time and within budget for McAllen ISD
November 09, 2009 10:16 AM 
Jennifer L. Berghom
The Monitor

McALLEN — It’s finished.

On Oct. 30 the McAllen school district celebrated the grand opening of the last component of its 2005 bond projects, the district operations complex, which also houses the system’s warehouse, central kitchen and transportation building.

The $13.3 million project was the last of several that voters approved in 2005 when the school district sought to sell $97.8 million in bonds to pay for them.

Other projects funded with the bond issue were the construction of five new elementary schools and a middle school, a new gymnasium for Lincoln Middle School, additions for McAllen High and Navarro Elementary schools, a new heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system for Memorial High School, and other renovations and improvements.

Final expenses for construction and other work were about $10 million more than originally planned, but the district was able to pay for those extra costs because the money it received from selling bonds accrued more interest than the district was paying on them, said McAllen School Board President Richard Moore.

The completion of the bond project on time and with enough money was the combination of hard work by the community, the school system, the engineering firm contracted to oversee the project and a little “dumb luck,” Moore said.

McAllen taxpayers didn’t originally support spending millions of dollars on new constructions and renovations. They shot down a similar bond request in 2003. Opponents of that bond said they did not trust the district to handle such a large project.

That prompted then-superintendent Yolanda Chapa to visit with community and business leaders to find out what the district needed to do to win the people’s favor.

“She listened to the bad news,” Moore said.

The district also formed a committee of residents from different facets of the community, called the Community Capital Advisory Committee, to assess the needs of the district and compile a report. The language of the bond referendum came from the committee; the board just ratified it, Moore said.

Proponents of the bond also formed a political action group to advertise and promote the proposal when it was placed on the ballot two years after the earlier referendum failed.

After voters approved the bond issue, the advisory committee played an integral role in making sure the project stayed on task, said Moore and former committee members. The committee stopped meeting about a year ago, when the contract to build the maintenance and operations complex was awarded.

“All of the grunt work was done by the committee,” Moore said.

Members of the group met several times over nearly a year to go over plans and make sure the district stuck to what the bond measure authorized, said Mike Blum, who served as the committee’s president.

“There are very few times when a political community is able to do something that has a multi-generational impact,” he said. “I knew going in we could make a difference.”

The district built the elementary schools with identical blueprints to save money on planning and materials, Blum said. The committee also had a Web site residents could access to learn about the bond and where the money was going.

Moore and Blum also credit Jacobs Facilities Inc. — the engineering firm hired to oversee the project — with keeping costs low enough to complete all the projects within the parameters of the referendum.

When bids started coming in for new construction of Thigpen-Zavala and Fields elementary schools, they were about $2 million more than what the district had planned a couple years earlier, Moore said.

But Kevin Hitchcock, a program manager with Jacobs Facilities and former manager of the district’s bond projects, was able to negotiate lower costs for those schools, as well as the other bond items, Moore said.

Though the district was able to complete its bond projects without having to ask for more money, some who were involved in the construction and renovations thought the final price tag was too high, especially for the district operations complex.

“It certainly cost more than it should’ve cost,” said Ruth Skow, president of the McAllen American Federation of Teachers and a former member of the advisory committee. “I feel a lot of angst about the final costs.”

Skow praised Blum for how he was able to organize the committee members, even if they all didn’t always agree.

“I’m glad it’s completed. We did our best to do what the taxpayers approved,” she said. “I was very honored to work on the bond.”

Though the district has completed its checklist of needs addressed with the 2005 bond, it already has begun assessing what might be needed in the future.

Another community advisory committee has been formed, and earlier this year it gave a report to the school board listing repairs, construction and other work the district might want to consider.

The district has not made any decisions on that report or set a timeline for acting on it.

Jennifer L. Berghom covers education and general assignments for The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4462

Veterans Bridge expansion aims to alleviate lengthy crossings for commercial traffic

Veterans Bridge expansion aims to alleviate lengthy crossings for commercial traffic

November 02, 2009 11:33 AM
By STEVE CLARK, The Brownsville Herald

Even with fewer border crossings taking place in Brownsville these days, traffic still jams up at Veterans International Bridge at Los Tomates.

To address the problem, Cameron County is planning to add a new four-lane span for commercial trucks entering the United States. The county, which estimates the cost of the project at $11 million, is in the process of securing a necessary amendment to the bridge’s original Presidential Permit — required for any structure connecting the United States with a foreign neighbor.

Cameron County administrator Peter Sepulveda says construction should begin in April 2010 and take 12 months to complete. The federal Coordinated Border Infrastructure Program will pay 80 percent of the project via the Texas Department of Transportation.

Cameron County and the city of Brownsville will put up the remaining 20 percent. Sepulveda says the problem with Veterans Bridge is that commercial trucks have a hard time just getting to primary inspection lanes — even if the lanes are empty — because of passenger car traffic.

A U.S. Department of the Interior memo on the project notes the bridge is "at capacity," which translates into long wait times for commercial vehicles — 30 minutes during week days and up to two hours on weekends and holidays. The memo, generated by the U.S. Department of the Interior, forecasts traffic volumes at the bridge to double by 2028, even though volume for both commercial and non-commercial traffic has fallen recently.

Sepulveda says new passport requirements that took effect June 1 have taken their toll on non-commercial traffic, while the recession’s impact on maquiladoras that serve the U.S. auto industry has severely impacted commercial traffic. In 2009 the county will collect about $3.5 million in commercial traffic tolls at Veterans Bridge, down 15 percent from previous years. Sepulveda believes traffic volume will rebound with the economy, however.

"Our commercial and other traffic has been going down because of different issues we’re faced with, but eventually that’s going to come back up," he says. "We need to be prepared when traffic does improve.

Eventually the economy will get better. People will get used to having to get their passport cards. Things will get better. It’s just hard to tell whether it’s going to be in 12 months or 36 months."

The original environmental assessment for Veterans Bridge was put together in 1981. The bridge complex was built in 1999 at a cost of $25 million. Today the facility is crammed with "idling lines of cars and diesel trucks sitting for hours at a time," according to the Interior Department memo. This congestion, which the report notes "contributes to poor air quality at the U.S./Mexico border," would be alleviated by the new span and additional lanes, says the government.

Until the recent drop in volume, truck traffic volume had climbed rapidly at the border, spurred by NAFTA, which went into effect Jan. 1, 1994. The value of U.S. trade to and from Mexico by truck through Texas ports rose from $57.3 billion in 1995 to more than $106 billion in 1999, according to the government. From 1990 to 1999, truck crossings at Texas ports increased from 726,000 to 2.3 million.

Sepulveda says the bridge project has been in planning for about two years and has nothing to do with the city of Laredo’s plan to add seven commercial lanes to its trade bridge.

"They have a different market than we do," he says. "Our competition is the (Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge). That’s our nearest competition."

The Pharr bridge is congested, too, Sepulveda notes, thus improving the flow of trucks through Veterans Bridge could lure some commercial traffic away from Hidalgo County.

"That’s the idea," he says. "That’s a possibility."

Levee reconstruction project coming in Cameron and Hidalgo Counties

Levee reconstruction project coming

October 27, 2009 10:56 AM

By GABRIEL SALDAñA/Valley Morning Star

RIO GRANDE VALLEY — A $20.9 million levee reconstruction project along 48 miles of the North Floodway and Arroyo Colorado in Cameron and Hidalgo counties will create a more secure flood barrier and could reduce flood insurance rates for local residents, officials said.

Construction will benefit cities between and including La Feria and Weslaco.

“Hopefully it will decrease our risk of flooding,” La Feria Assistant City Manager Darla Jones said.

The project, awarded to Ballenger Construction of Harlingen, is expected to begin within the next few weeks and is projected to be finished by September 2010, Sally Spener, U.S. International Boundary and Water Commission spokeswoman, said.

“We intend to certify the levees to (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) and that will help people out on flood insurance rates down the road,” she said.

Spener did not have an exact date when construction would begin. Ballenger Construction would not comment on the project.

The levee’s height will vary and will depend on how low it lies in relation to FEMA water level projections for a 100-year flood, which is defined as a flood so severe that it has a 1 percent chance of occurring in any given year, Spener said.

The new construction will create a barrier that is FEMA accredited, a certification that city officials say could reduce flood insurance rates.

The levee must rise 3 feet above the estimated 100-year flood level to earn the accreditation, Spener said.

“That is something that all the … residents will benefit from: not seeing their insurance premiums going up so dramatically,” Mercedes City Manager Richard Garcia said.

“All of this will take place to ensure that they will be able to discharge water into the floodway system and that there is not going to be a break on one of the banks,” Garcia said. “All of this is going to work out to ensure the safety of the residents.”

Jones, the La Feria city official, said the project could not have come at a better time.

“The timing of this project is perfect because our flood insurance rate maps are currently being revised by FEMA,” Jones said. “As it stands now our levees are not accredited so they are not providing any benefit for flood insurance purposes.”

McAllen named one of top places for Logistics

McAllen named one of top places for Logistics

McAllen Economic Development Corporation Blog

November 6, 2009

Recently Expansion Solutions Magazine awarded the McAllen Economic Development Corporation with the 2009 Award for Excellence for its strategic link for logistics.

McAllen will be featured as an award winner in the magazine’s upcoming winter issue.

McAllen, TX, strategically located on the US-Mexico border, is a fast-growing metro area that also is home to numerous Fortune 500 companies. McAllen is also home to Foreign Trade Zone #12.

NAI RGV to Attend the ICSC Conference in San Antonio

ICSC Conference in San Antonio Novemebr 2-4 click here for more information.

STC to host symposium reflecting on the Valley's past, present and future

STC to host symposium reflecting on the Valley's past, present and future
Jennifer L. Berghom

The Monitor

McALLEN — South Texas College is hosting a symposium next week that looks at how much the Rio Grane Valley has changed and where it is headed.

The Old Valley/New Valley: Analyzing the Past, Present, and Future of the Lower Rio Grande Valley symposium will be at the college’s Cooper Center Nov. 4 to 7. It will include discussions the Valley’s history from its colonial days to its position as a center of international commerce, said Trinidad Gonzales, an STC history professor and organizer of the event.

The symposium will include panel discussions on issues related to the area’s growth, including population shifts, education and the economy, as well as Hispanic culture, Gonzales said. The healthcare panel listed on previous flyers has been cancelled, he added.

Presenters are expected to show trends reflecting how the Valley has changed from its days as an agrarian society to a growing urban international trade center.

The symposium will also touch on how the Valley is becoming more diverse, with people from other parts of the country, as well as the world, have been moving into the area, Gonzales said.

“We’re at an interesting time. We’re at a turning point,” Gonzales said.

Of note is a session scheduled for Nov. 5 where five experts from both sides of the border will discuss the past, present and future of the Valley’s economy, according to the college.

Gonzales said the idea for the symposium came from a professor from the University of Texas at Austin he was talking to when he attended a conference in that city more than a year ago. Gonzales and the UT professor, José Limón, were discussing how the Valley had grown, especially over the past couple of decades and decided it would be a good idea to bring together experts to reflect on the area’s evolution as well as its future, Gonzales said.

“We decided to shoot for it. We didn’t think we were going to get it,” Gonzales said.

With a $20,000 matching grant from the University of Texas — UT and STC each pitched in $10,000 — Gonzales and his staff spent the next year and a half developing the symposium.

“We shot for the stars but we were also pragmatic,” he said.

Gonzales said he hopes the symposium will attract everyone from policy makers to the average citizen interested in learning about the area’s history and where it is headed.

“Knowledge is important,” he said. “We’re trying to serve our constituency.”